Time.news – The governor of Utah has banned TikTok, banning it on many electronic devices in the state. Spencer Cox signed the executive order on Monday banning many state executive branch employees from using the social media app on phones, tablets or computers located in government offices.
The reason? Cox said he is uncomfortable with TikTok because it is owned by the Beijing-based company ByteDance since “China’s access to data collected by TikTok poses a threat to our cybersecurity“We need to protect the people of Utah and make sure the people of Utah can trust the state’s security systems,” Cox added.
In fact, TikTok is a video-based social network with a powerful algorithm that provides a flood of content tailored to the user’s interests and habits, and the app can collect users’ personal data and sell them. Cox’s action joins that of many other governors that in the last two weeks have opted for limited use of TikTok by the public sector, such as Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Nebrask and Indiana, all states governed by Republicans. Now other Republican-led states may follow and join the list.
The Washington Post in October published a three-part investigation examining the TikTok phenomenon and how the app has given two of the world’s most powerful countries yet another reason to fight it. Also because the data companies found that the average American user watches TikTok for 80 minutes a day, more than the time spent on Facebook and Instagram combined. The difference, “is that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company and that presents a jurisdiction issue. The best way to allay fears that American data is owned by the Chinese government is to make sure that data never leaves American soil,” said a University of Utah computer science professor specializing in online user privacy.
Jamal Brown, spokesperson for TikTok, said on Tuesday: “We are disappointed that so many states are jumping on the bandwagon to implement policies based on baseless, politically charged falsehoods on TikTok. It’s unfortunate that the many state agencies, offices and universities on TikTok in those states will no longer be able to use it to build communities and connect with citizens.”